OCBC hires new head of big engineering team in Singapore
OCBC has hired Jie Bai from ANZ as its head of engineering for digital channels.
Based in the bank’s regional development centre in Singapore, Bai is leading more than 100 software engineers, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He is in charge of the development of OCBC’s digital-channel products across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Bai likely has a lot on his plate in his new OCBC job because Singaporean banks have all reported surging usage of their digital channels from both retail and corporate customers during the pandemic.
His role involves end-to-end responsibilities, “from recruiting engineers to product releases”. Like its rivals DBS and UOB, OCBC is hiring heavily in technology. The bank has 127 Singapore-based tech vacancies on its career site, more than a quarter of its total local openings.
Bai was at ANZ for almost seven years, latterly based in Melbourne as engineer chapter lead for digital customer experience.
While banks in Singapore have largely curtailed their hiring of overseas-based technologists due to travel and Employment Pass restrictions during the pandemic, some executive-level foreign candidates are still being recruited.
Bai, who is originally from China, has worked in banking technology for all of his career. He started out at ICBC in 2002, and moved to Citi in 2004. He spent over 10 years at the US bank, latterly as a VP in wealth management product development.
Image: unsplash
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